


Counting sheeps never works

by potanio



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Slow Burn, also kenma is cute, and kuroo is very gay, sleeping problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2016-10-05
Packaged: 2018-05-17 02:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5850070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potanio/pseuds/potanio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Kuroo Tetsurou has always had trouble sleeping, ever since he was a child. Ticking clocks, busy traffic and snoring people were things he just couldn’t handle, and even with multiply earplugs and earmuffs on, the irritating sounds would still somehow always manage to slip into his ears and slowly drive him insane"</p><p>or also: in which kenma is sad and kuroo can't sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The blanket-boy

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact: i have no idea of what i'm doing  
> another fun fact: i also have no idea about how college works

Kuroo Tetsurou has always had trouble sleeping, ever since he was a child. Ticking clocks, busy traffic and snoring people were things he just couldn’t handle, and even with multiply earplugs and earmuffs on, the irritating sounds would still somehow always manage to slip into his ears and slowly drive him insane (but they still eased the sounds a bit though). So when the whimpering sounds began at one a.m. and Kuroo realized that he had managed to forget his earplugs at home, he knew that this wouldn’t be an easy night. Especially since he had his first class the morning after and he wanted to make a good first impression. Kuroo kind of doubted that sleeping through the whole lesson would be one of those. The only thing he could do was to bury himself even deeper into his pillow, pressing its sides against his ears, and hoping that the sound would soon disappear.

But it doesn’t.  
He waited some more.  
It still doesn’t stop. 

When a quarter or two had passed with the sound still ringing in his ears, Kuroo decided that he should probably try to stop the sound himself. Like, what’s the worst that could happen? Except that he might get lost, or get eaten alive by a ghost, or accidentally walk into an angry security guard… But he decided that if he could get the sound to stop, it’d be totally worth it. Even if he’d be eaten alive.

 

His dorm was pitch-black, and that might be the reason why he accidentally fell over his still unpacked bag while trying to make his way out, and he maybe, just maybe let out a scream of horror as he did that. It was one of those moments that Kuroo felt extremely happy that his roommate and also “best bro forever and always”, Bokuto, was his exact opposite when it came to sleeping patterns and was for an example almost impossible to wake up. And sure enough, when Kuroo had risen from his dramatic fall, Bokuto was still deep in sleep.

Kuroo really, really wished that he had that ability. But unfortunately he didn’t, and that lead him once again to his so called “mission”.   
When he finally reached the door that lead to the hallway, without falling on any other misplaced object, and opened it with a light push, he was almost blinded of the light from the other side. Someone had probably forgotten to turn them off last night, and even though Kuroo’s eyes still hurt a bit, he was still happy about it. He didn’t really feel to walk the corridor in complete darkness. 

The sound was even clearer out here, and he thought that he might know where it came from, because it kind of sounded like it came from one of the other dorms! After a few minutes, he had located the exact dorm. But the problem was that he had no idea who lived there. It was Kuroo’s second year in college, and for some unnecessary reason, the dorm manager had somehow thought that all of the students should change dormitories with each other for the next term, so he didn’t actually know anyone in his new student dormitory. Well, except Bokuto of course.

A normal person would probably give up during these circumstances, and just return to their own room. Or if they decided that they’d enter the dorm, they would probably at least knock. But Kuroo was Kuroo, and he was both really tired and upset at the moment, so he didn’t feel like turning back or knocking. That’s why he just opened the door, which luckily was unlocked, and walked in. 

 

The room he now stood in was almost an exact copy of his own room, containing unpacked bags, boring wallpaper and a few pieces of old furniture. The only differences was that there were hipster fairy lights hanging from the ceiling (Which explained why Kuroo had been able to actually see his surrounding), and it was only one bed in the room instead of two. In the said bed sat a tiny boy, with tears in his golden, catlike eyes, and a grey blanket firmly wrapped around him, so that only his eyes were visible. 

Kuroo’s couldn’t help but smile, he had succeeded his search! Because he was pretty damn sure that it was the boy’s crying that had prevented him from going to sleep. But then he realized that the boy had been crying, like actually crying, and that’s why his smirk quickly disappeared from his lips.

The tiny blanket-boy had now his golden eyes(but they were a bit red around the edges from all the crying though) focused on Kuroo, staring at him with so much intense that it looked like he was staring right through his soul.   
But of course, he had just “broken into” the blanket boy’s dorm; he couldn’t expect him not to stare. But he still wished that he wouldn’t, all the staring actually made him feel a little bit uncomfortable. It was around that moment when Kuroo figured that he should probably try to say something, and not like… just stand there as an idiot, as he kind of did at the moment. 

But what should he say?

He hadn’t actually thought that he might have to deal with the sound (aka the crying boy), he had just sort of believed that the sound would mysteriously disappear the moment he had located it. Sadly, he figured that it wouldn’t be that easy. So Kuroo decided that he should try to do the best out of the situation, so he just cleared his throat and said with a quite steady voice; “Hey, I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, also known as your new “neighbour”, and the guy with the sleeping problems. Aaand, your crying might have been keeping me from sleeping. Soo, hi!”

And with that, Kuroo reached out his hand towards the blanket boy, with the smirk playing on his lips once again, but it didn’t take long until it was replaced by a loud yawn.   
But the boy didn’t take Kuroo’s outreached hand, it was still safely covered under the huge blanket. Instead, his eyes were once again slowly starting to fill up with tears.   
One thing was sure, Kuroo was certainly no longer smirking (or yawning). He was actually starting to panic a bit, his outgoing behavior usually worked with other people?! So why hadn’t it worked, had Kuroo just made the whole situation even worse without knowing it?

“No, please don’t cry… I didn’t mean it, whatever I said to upset you!”

With those words, Kuroo unconsciously began to walk towards the blanket-boy, with his hand still reaching towards him. But the boy immediately winced as if he didn’t want Kuroo to get any closer, as if he thought that Kuroo was going to hurt him.

So Kuroo didn’t get any closer.

Instead, he drew his hand back to its original place, slowly biting his lower lip as he did so. Well, this was certainly not going as planned. Except he didn’t really have a plan, but that's another story.  
The boy were once again staring at him, and it took Kuroo quite a long while to try to break the silence.

“I’m… I’m not really that good at these kind of things, but do you maybe, I dunno, talk about stuff?”

It took the blanket-boy some time to answer, and when he did, it was by nodding his head a tiny bit, so little that you’d barely see it.  
Kuroo decided to grin once again, he was now a little bit closer to his goal.

“Great! Is it ok if I sit on the bed? My legs actually kind of hurt from all the standing…”

It took the boy a pretty long to answer this time as well, and when he did, it was by using the small nod once again.

Kuroo moved closer to the boy, and this time, the blanket boy didn’t flinch, even though he looked a bit tense as Kuroo sat down to the boys right. They fell into a silence once again, only broken by the boy’s sobs. Kuroo began slowly to figure out what he’d say this time, choosing his words carefully not to accidentally hurt the boy’s feelings.

“You don’t have to tell me anything deep if you don’t want to. Let’s just start by telling me your name, ok?! You already know mine, Kuroo, if you’d forgotten!”

It once again took a while to get the boy to answer, and this time, he actually spoke!

“Kenma, Kozume Kenma”

His voice was quite weak, but Kuroo could still manage to catch the words.

“Kenma… that’s a really pretty name!”

Even though the boy were still hidden behind blankets, it still looked a bit like he smiled a little bit at the words as he answered a small; ”thanks”

They silence between them were no longer awkward, it was actually more of an comfortable silence (except for the sobs though), and they sat there for a good ten minutes before Kuroo realized that he’d almost fallen asleep. He actually considered to fall asleep in the blanket-boy’s, or Kenma’s, which his name apparently was, bed.   
But he didn’t do it because of three reasons.   
First of all, he supposed that Kenma would not appreciate if he just suddenly fell asleep in his room. Second, if Bokuto woke up and realised that Kuroo wasn’t there, he’d probably think that became a victim of the owl demon, that had been haunting Bo’s dreams lately,and he never shut up about them. Last but not least, Kenma was still crying. So how much as he wanted to fall asleep, he couldn’t. There were still loads of things to do. He let out one last yawn.

“Weeell, do you want to talk about it?”

Kenma just slowly shook his head at this. 

Kuroo decided to try again.

“Do you… maybe want to talk about something else then? You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but…”

For the second time that evening, Kenma spoke. Not that much, but it was still enough for Kuroo.

“Sure”

So Kuroo started to talk. He talked about the time when he and Bokuto had almost been caught by the police, because they had somehow thought that it’d be a good idea to sneak into the zoo after it had closed. Fun fact, it had not been a good idea as they later discovered.

He talked about when he was little, and his parents were going to the beach, but had accidentally forgotten Kuroo at home, realising it first when they had arrived.

He talked about how he recently had found out that Paris wasn’t the capital of London, as he had though his entire life, and during the whole time, nobody had had the guts to tell him that it in fact wasn’t, and that London wasn’t even a country as he’d thought,it was apparently another capital.

He talked about the time that a child had started to pat his hair when he’d been in a park, just because the child had thought that his hair had been a cat, sleeping on his head.

At that, Kenma actually laughed a bit, and said something about how it actually looked a bit like an abandoned cat. 

“Hey, it does not!” Kuroo said, with a really exaggerated upset face, while he tried(without succeeding) to flatten down his hair.

“It does.”

“It doesn’t”

“It does”

Even though Kuroo was bit offended at Kenma’s words, he still actually felt kind of happy that he’d managed to make him laugh. This might be a bit embarrassing, but just because Kenma were still smiling a bit, he couldn’t help but to leave his exaggerated expression behind, just to be replaced by his famous cheshire cat grin. Kuroo could once again slowly feel how his eyelids grew heavy, and apparently Kenma felt the same thing, because he was now leaning towards Kuroo, with his head resting lazily on his shoulder. 

Kuroo didn’t know why, but when he noticed that the tiny boy was leaning towards him, he could actually feel his heart skipping a beat in his chest. That was… quite weird. But except from that, it felt really normal, Kenma’s head against his shoulder. Not normal like if he didn’t make a big deal about it, but normal like Kenmas head was…made to rest on his shoulder?

Okay that was even weirder. Really fucking weird. He had if possible outweirded himself. He should probably pretend like that had never happened.

“Hey, Kenma?” Kuroo asked, partly to make sure that the boy hadn’t fallen asleep, and also to take his mind of… other things.

“Mmm?” Came the response after a while, dragging with sleepiness. Also, the voice were really close to his ear, and Kuroo could almost feel Kenma’s warm breathe against his neck… nope, not going there. Nopidynope.

“It doesn’t”

He got no answer to that, he supposed that Kenma didn’t have the energy to continue with their pointless discussion. But he could almost swear that he could hear Kenma chuckling lightly.

Another few minutes passed, and Kuroo was once again considering to fall asleep right where he was. But then, the thought of how upset Bokuto would be the morning after, and how he once again was going to be forced to listen about the owl demon. Kuroo loved Bo, and he usually loved his stories. But hearing the same story over and over again could actually become a bit tiring after a while. So Kuroo decided that his mission was now over, and he should probably head back to his own dorm, to Bokuto, even though he didn’t really want to leave.

“I think I have to get going now, do you feel any better?”

Kuroo could feel Kenma nodding against his shoulder, and he took that as the sign to slowly begin to get off the bed, moving carefully so that Kenma wouldn’t be taken by surprise, and accidentally tip over. But before he had managed to stand up, Kenmas voice stole his attention.

“Kuroo.”

...

“Thank you”

 

By those words, Kuroo turned his head around, and managed to catch a glimpse of Kenma. Except now, Kenma was no longer covered to 95% by the blanket. The blanket had probably fallen of him when Kuroo had began to leave, and Kuroo was happy that it had.  
It was like in one of those cheesy movies, when sakura flowers were falling through the sky, as the protagonist for the first time realizes that they are in love. Not that Kuroo was in love though…but you get the point.

Kenma was beautiful, with his golden, catlike eyes (now with almost no trace of tears), his tiny pink mouth and with a sleek face. If this truly were a film, his pudding hair would be blowing in the wind along with the blossoms. But even though this sadly weren’t a movie, his shoulder long hair was still embracing his face perfectly. Kuroo could almost feel his heart leave his body.

 

...

Oh, that’s right… he should probably say something.

…

 

“Uhhm… well you’re bea… sorry…welcome. Yeah, welcome…”  
Kuroo mentally slapped himself. Are you fucking serious? Where did the smooth me go?

He managed to say something about how he had to get going, and how they’d probably meet each other soon again before he practically fled the scene, and it was first when he’d closed the door to Kenma’s dorm that he were able to breath out. What had just happened? Maybe he was sick? He was most probably sick. Probably caught some mean virus, that was doing strange things to his body, Yes, that sounded reasonable.  
“Maybe you’ve been infected by the worst virus of them all?” A voice in his head sing sang to him.  
“You’ve been bitten by the crush bug I suppo…” Nope. Not going there. Absolutely not.

Kuroo had been so caught up in his thinking that he actually missed the door to his dorm, and had to walk back the few meters in shame, before he could enter his room and spoiler, fall on the same bag once again.   
___

When Kuroo was once again lying in his bed, the memories of the previous experiences still hadn’t left his head; they were flying around and around, never stopping, and never slowing down enough for him to manage to get some sleep. He just couldn’t stop thinking about Kenma, about how cute he was, how his heart beat so fast when Kenma had rested his head on Kuroo’s shoulders, while Kuroo repeated the few words that he’d said over and over again.   
But the thought that took the biggest place in his head was this; Why had he been crying?

“Well” Kuroo said to himself.

“At least the irritating sound is gone.”


	2. The bro code

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i still don't know how college works...  
> and i also don't know how to get some words in cursive, so if some sentences looks weird af, it's probably because of that...
> 
> there's so much i don't know.

“You don’t understand!! Bro, he’s my soulmate! I know I’ve been saying that a lot lately, but that’s not this time, I’m sure of it! First of all, he’s like the prettiest human-being ever!! You should have seen his eyes, they were just so beautiful!! I totally think that we are soulmates. Like really, really think. And he’s so smart!! Well I think he’s smart...at least he looked really smart. We didn’t actually talk but anyway...hey, bro, are you even listening!?”

Kuroo was not listening.

He had almost fallen asleep on the slightly greasy table that belong to the coffee shop named Nekoma, which Bokuto had chosen as their so called “first day of lessons discussing place”, but had somehow had turned into Bokuto’s “extremely cute boy in my english class discussing place”, and the lack of sleep had made it really hard for Kuroo to concentrate on the description of the boy’s, according to Bokuto, perfect face.  
Kuroo’s barely touched coffee, that had began to get cold, was now dangerously balancing on the table's edge. They were no other place for the cup to stand on at the table, because the rest 95% of the table was covered by Kuroo’s torso. He had been in that position for so long that it wouldn’t actually surprise him if he was permanently stuck to the surface for all of eternity. 

“Heey, Kuroo??!”Bokuto’s voice once again asked.

Kuroo tried to blink the sleepiness away from his eyes. It didn’t work.  
He blinked again.

“Yeah I’m listening, there was this hot boy in your math class. Totally listening” Kuroo managed to slur, still with his head pressed against the table.

“Dude, it was in my English class. I don’t even have math. I thought you knew that.”

Bokuto actually looked a bit sad, biting his lower lip and gazy focusing on the strawberry frappuccino that he clutched so hard that it looked like the plastic container would break.

Kuroo groined. If he knew his best friend, (which he did pretty damn well), Bokuto was on his way to his famous “dejected mode”, and Kuroo just didn’t have the energy to deal with that right now.  
He’s first day had not gone according to the plan, and he had certainly not made a good first impression. He had been so tired, so that he hadn’t been able to keep up with the professor, and it was only because of the 8 cups of bitter coffee that he had managed to not collapse.

But before Bokuto could make Kuroo’s day any worse, the literary goodness, also named Sugawara Koushi showed up in the small café, with a cup in his hands that contained, if Kuroo knew Suga well enough, some chamomile tea, because chamomile tea was honestly the only thing Suga seemed to drink. The moment Bokuto saw the man with the hypothetical chamomile tea, it looked like every last sign of disappointment somehow magically vanished from his face.

“Sugaaa!!” Bokuto shouted, with his arms waving in the air and his posture screaming of his usual confidence. 

Sugawara, as well as the rest of the cafées visitors turned around to find out where the sudden sound had come from, and when Suga managed to locate the scream, he just smiled his usual breathtaking smile (that probably could create peace on earth), as he made his way over to the two boys sitting around the table in the corner of the shop. Or rather, one sitting boy, the other was probably sleeping.

“Wasn’t Daichi coming as well?” Bokuto asked as the smiling boy pulled out a chair and seated himself.

“Oh, I think he’ll come soon, his lesson ends first in ten minutes! How was your first day by the way, mine was great!” 

Sugawara almost didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Bokuto was once again talking about the boy.

“It was great! Well, not the actual classes, they were actually quite boring, but you should have seen him!! He was like the most beautiful creature ever created like wow!!”

“Wait, what are you talking about, I’m not really getting it…” Suga said, before he took a sip of his tea.

“A boy, Suga! A really, really, really pretty boy!!”

“Ohh, now I get it! Please, tell me more about this pretty boy” Suga rested his head against his arm, and with the other hand stirring the tea around in the cup with a spoon while he looked at Bokuto with a very interested expression. Suga actually looked like a middle age mother, gossiping with her girlfriends about scandals and relationships.

Bokuto looked like he was really happy over his new and much better listener, that actually appreciated his stories, and not just slept, and he began to once again talk about everything from the boy’s raven-black hair to his beautiful dark brown eyes.  
Kuroo, that had already heard this story a multiply times, sank a little more into the table, with his eyes still tightly closed.

“…Oh, and you should have seen his handwriting! So pretty!! Everything about him is just perfect, dude!!” Bokuto finally finished, allowing Suga to comment on his, what had seemed like a five pages essay about the boy.

“Wait, what did you say his name was again?” He said, still stirring the tea in the cup around and around in circles.

“I don’t think I said he’s name… This is a bit awkward, but I think I’ve forgotten it, I’m actually not sure… But I think it was something like… Akemi, or Akihiko… no, I think the teacher said Ataami!  
No wait, his name’s Akaashi!! YEAH, totally Akaashi! Wow, that’s such an amazing name when I think about it. Akaashi. Akaaaashi. Akashii” Bokuto said, tasting the name, as if to see in which pitch it sounded the best, before he decided to return to his barely touched frappino.

“Akaashi.. I think I recognize that name!”

Bokuto’s eyes widened, sucking more intense on the straw.

“It couldn’t be… Akaashi Keji? We used to play in the same orchester when I was younger. Yeah, the description actually suited him a bit. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it was him!”

Bokuto’s eyes were now, if possible, even wider and his jaw dropped slowly, as his brain processed new information.

“So, you’re... friends?” Bokuto finally answered, still wearing the same expression.

Suga scratched his cheeks, while lightly chuckling.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say friends, we just used to sit next to each other from time to time! He didn’t say that much though, he was a bit reticent. Still nice though! Oh, and he’s a year under us, I think!”

Bokuto looked like he was about to embrace Suga, but he restrained that impulse, and grabbed Sugas hands instead while he smiled so much a college student probably could.

“Suga, my friend. How am I ever going to thank you enough?”

“Weell, there’s these books I’ve always wanted to read” Bokuto’s smile suddenly dropped, so Suga added quickly “Kidding, kidding! But you could maybe let go of my hands for a start… Oh, here comes Daichi!”

Bokuto rapidly let go of Suga’s hands as Daichi approached, not only because Suga had asked him, but also because Daichi could be a little bit… overprotective over his boyfriend.

Daichi pressed a quick kiss on Suga’s cheek as a greeting, before he turned around to observe Kuroo.

“I’m sorry but what are you doing?” He decided to ask after a while, still standing next to the corrupted table.

Kuroo blinked again and began slowly to open his mouth, but before he had time to answer the question, Bokuto responded instead.

“I think he’s sleeping.”

Since Kuroo had already opened his mouth, so he might as well say something.

“Damn straight I’m sleeping.” It came out a bit muffled, or rather a lot muffled, because of the stupid, inconvenient table. Kuroo could feel his friend's eyes focusing on him, and it made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He usually loved attention, but people watching him “sleep”, was another thing.

“Well…” Daichi continued after a while. “Can I ask you why you are sleeping?”

When Kuroo pushed himself up in a sitting position, even though he’d rather stay on table, so discovered him that he actually wasn’t stuck on the table for all eternity, as he had thought.

“That’s actually a pretty long fucking story” Kuroo said, while gently rubbing his still sleeping eyes.

“Why don’t you enlighten us then?” Suga was once again resting his head on his arm, stirring the spoon around in his tea and Daichi had gone away to grab a chair.

“I don’t really feel like talking about it, too long and awkward…” He answered, because Kuroo didn’t actually feel like talking about it. The whole thing had felt, private? Like if the memories belonged to only him and Kenma, and wasn’t supposed to be spread around like some cheap gossip.

“Bro. Isn’t it against the bro code to keep secrets from each other? Just tell us, you know we won’t judge you!” Bokuto said, leaning over the table towards Kuroo.

“Well…” Bo added. “At least I won’t judge you. The rest probably will.”

“We will probably judge yo…” Daichi began to say, before he got Sugas elbow in his ribs.

“~Don’t say that! He’ll never tell us if you say something like that!~” Suga’s voice came in a low, singing tone, as if it was meant for only Daichi to hear.

“So, according to this “bro code”, are you going to tell us or not?” This time, Suga’s voice was louder, but it still had a bit of this ringing tone to it.

Kuroo looked around, observing each of his friends. Daichi, with a pained expression on his face, Suga, looking like a very, very enthusiastic school girl and Bokuto, that was looking at Kuroo, with wide open eyes, as he whispered “Don’t you dare to turn your back on the bro code.”

Why did they care so much? It was like they were expecting him to reveal that he accidentally killed a man, or had sex with his teacher, or had fallen in love.

Well, the last one wasn’t so far from the truth. Kuroo couldn’t help himself but to blush at the thought at Kenma and began to really, really wish that he could just fall asleep again.

“Dude, you’re totally blushing right now!!” Bokuto almost shouted

“I’m not!” He quickly answered, and, of course, blushed even more.  
Suga looked like he was in heaven, slowly drinking his tea, and grinning like an idiot. He actually looked a bit scary. No, he looked very scary. He was still smiling when he put down his cup. 

“You met a boy, didn’t you? I’m an expert at noticing lovestruck persons, and no offense, but you look almost as in love as Bokuto!”

If Kuroo hadn’t been blushing before (which he had), so was he most certainly blushing now.

“I know how long it took for you to realise that Daichi was in love with you, so I don’t trust you at all! Because I’m not in love. Not at all.”

Now Daichi and Suga were blushing a little bit as well, looking at each other like the disgustingly perfect couple that they were, while their hands were tightly clutched together. Kuroo couldn’t help but to feel a bit disgusted by this cuteness, but he was also a bit… jealous?

“Okay, we all know that you’re an old married couple. But we didn’t knew that Kuroo was in love, without telling me. Me, his best bro forever and always.” Bokuto ends, and makes Kuroo feel both very happy and mad.

“Of course I’d tell you bro! But I'm not in love!” All eyes were now again on Kuroo, and he began to once again felt a bit uncomfortable. 

“I’m so close to begin singing the song from Hercules, you know, the one with The Muses, the “I won’t say I’m in love” song” Suga finally says. 

Daichi clears his throat. “I have no idea what song, or movie you mean, but I’m happy that you aren’t singing it. Because, if you guys have forgotten, we’re still in a café.” 

“Wait a moment!” Suga suddenly screams. “Don’t tell me that I’m dating a guy that have never seen Hercules? Daichi, I know what we’re going to do tonight.”

“Honey, we’re in a café, I’m sure this Hercules thingy is great, but there’s really no need to scream!”

Bokuto almost stands up, with hands in the air. “Woah. First of all, Daichi, I’m disappointed in you. Secondly, I thought that we were talking about Kuroo’s crush, Suga, your love for Disney can wait.”

Kuroo groaned. “No, I don’t actually mind talking about Disney, right Suga? Have you seen treasure planet? It was my favorite movie as a chil…”

Bokuto sits down again, only to lean over the table. “Oh no, don’t you even try! I know exactly what you’re trying to do! So, who is he? The mysterious boy that stole my best bro’s heart, and kept you up all night?”

“He did not stole my heart bro, okay?! We just talked a bit!”

“Oh, I told you it was a boy! So, what’s his name? Do we know him? How did you meet?” Suga was once again smiling, still holding Daichi’s hand in a tight grip. Before Kuroo has time to answer Sugas questions, Bokuto grabs his arm, and Kuroo can feel Bo’s nails press against his skin.

“Bo, what is it?” He asks, but all Bokuto does is to stare towards the entrance to the café, whispering somethings that sounds like “It’s him.” Kuroo, as well as Daichi and Suga, turns around to look at whatever caught Bokuto’s attention. In the door opening stands a beautiful guy, with pale skin, and a simple, yet nice septum piercing in his nose. The guy’s, or as he realise, Akaashi’s outfit consists of a black poloshirt, tight blue jeans, and ginger coloured nails. His eyes are perfectly marked by an thin eyeliner, and his cheekbones clear. Well, it didn’t surprise why Kuroo why Bokuto liked this guy, he was really hot. But, how much Kuroo loved his best friend, and how awesome Bo was, so couldn’t Kuroo help but to think that he had no chance with this guy, it was like they came from two different planets.

Akaashi stands in the door for a little while, until he decides to go in. That’s first then when Kuroo realises that Akaashi isn’t visiting the café alone.

He’s with Kozume Kenma.

If Kuroo had thought that Kenma was beautiful yesterday, so was it nothing compared to how he looked now.

He had, just like Akaashi, winged eyeliner, which made his eyes look, if possible, even more like a cat’s. He’s pudding hair was put in a messy bun on top of his head, but still with some of the front hair falling down. He was wearing a sweatshirt, that was a little big on him, and on top of that an overall.

And of course, when Kenma had appeared, Kuroo had unconsciously began to lean forward on his chair, which resulted with the chair falling, and Kuroo hitting the floor.  
It should be illegal. No one should be that pretty, so that people fell off their chairs. He could vaguely hear his friends laugh at him, and that did not make the situation any better. 

Kenma was wearing an overall, and Kuroo was screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because kenma and akaashi in pretty clothes is what i live for. 
> 
> also srry for the lack of kenma in this chapter


	3. The fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a bad pickup line that results in something unexpected...

It takes a while for the laughter to die out and the few people that managed to catch a glimpse of Kuroo’s fall to return to their own discussions and their half eaten cakes and drinks. Bokuto is the last one to stop laughing (or screaming would be an much more fitting word), and when his laughter finally dies out as well in small hiccups, Daichi is the first one to comment on the incident.

“Do you need help to get up, or would you just prefer to stay there forever?”

Kuroo would prefer to stay on the floor forever, which was actually much more comfortable than the table. But that would not make this extremely awkward event any better, some people were still staring at him, but luckily not Kenma or Akaashi, that (hopefully) hadn’t noticed the fall and had now settled by a small table, not that far away from their. Kuroo wasn’t sure though, it was a bit hard to observe the two boys lying on the floor.

“I can stand perfectly fine by myself, thank you very much!”

“Well, not to be rude or something like that, but if you can stand up by yourself, why aren’t you doing it then? Because it seems like you’re still lying on the ground.” Even though Suga was out of Kuroo’s sight, so could he still almost see him smiling that innocent smile, that wasn’t actually that innocent. He remember when he’d first met Suga, and how sure he was that Suga was the purest cinnamonroll ever created. He hadn’t realised until recently how wrong he’d been.

Bokuto was once again laughing, but not as much this time, so he managed to get out some words between the laughter.“Dude, I know that Akaashi is hot as fuck, but I didn’t expect you to fall of your chair! But I hate to break it to you, but Akaashi is my soulmate, you have to find your own! By the way, I should totally go and talk to him, right?! I think that this is my destiny!”

Kuroo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was to tired for this shit.

“Oh Bokuto, I don’t think it was Akaashi that made him fall, I rather think it was the thing next to him if you get what I mean…” Suga said, still smiling that irritating smile as Bokuto began to look towards Akaashi and Kenmas table and then back to Kuroo, over and over again, until he finally began to understand and he let out a soundless “oh”

Kuroo changed his mind. He’d rather stay at the floor, trying to escape reality. How could Suga see right through him though, like he was nothing more than a piece of transparent glass? Kuroo concluded that Suga had been spending way too much time with Oikawa lately, and Suga had slowly began to pick up parts of his horrible personality. God dammit, one Oikawa was bad enough.

“Whoa you got a thing for Akaashi’s friend?? BRO that’s amazing!! Now we could go on double dates and things like that!” Bokuto almost slammed his hands on the table, and he was practically shining of joy. Meanwhile, Kuroo was practically shining of embarrassment, because the thought of double dates was overwhelming. Luckily, he just hid his face in his arms to prevent anyone to see him like this, he couldn’t afford to have his “cool” reputation destroyed.   
Kuroo managed to mumble something about how he did not have a thing for Akaashi’s friend, but he doubted that they heard him. And if the had heard him, so were they probably just ignoring his words.

“But how can you go on double dates when you haven’t talked to them yet?” Daichi adds. He’s the only one of the four boys that doesn’t looks overwhelmed over this whole situation and somehow still manages to look as collected as usual, like he deals with testosterone filled teenagers on a daily basis (which he most likely did.) 

“But I can’t to help to think that Kuroo has already talked to Kenma, you said that yourself, didn’t you?” Kuroo had to try his best not to scream out his frustration. Suga must be stopped.

Bokuto started to slowly put two and two together, and it took a quite good while for him to realise that it was Kenma that prevented Kuroo from getting any sleep last night. But Bokuto was too busy making up plans for how he and Akaashi could get together based on Kuroo and Kenma’s “relationship”, instead of asking Kuroo about more details of yesterday’s events, and that made Kuroo very grateful. 

Not soon after that, Bokuto’s plan was finished and he decided to scream it out. “GREAT!! Than we can go and say hi to Akaashi because if you’re friends with his friend, it wouldn’t be strange at all! So then you can just talk to that boy and ask him out and meanwhile I can ask Akaashi out! Easy peasy, right?”

According to Kuroo, and probably Suga and Daichi as well, the plan did not seem “easy peasy”. There were so many things that could, and probably would go wrong, and Kuroo doubted that he was mentally prepared to talk to Kenma again, and if he would be able to get the words out right, or if it just be a disaster, just as it had been the last time he saw Kenma’s “real” face. 

“But I’m just so tireed… can’t you see how tired I am? Like really, really tired… way too tired to get up. I’m so tired that I can’t even talk!” It wasn’t technically false, he was really tired. But, believe it or not, the tiredness wasn’t the only reason he didn’t get up.

But before Kuroo had time to think anymore had Bokuto left his chair, and with barely an effort lifted Kuroo up to his feets with only one arm, because the other one still had his frappuccino in a steady grip. It was in times like that when Kuroo really realised how strong Bokuto was, and what a bad idea it would be to get on his bad side. So, he’d probably better come along on Bokuto’s suicide mission…

“You don’t have to worry! Like, I’ve got loads of amazing pick up lines! Come on, it’s not like we haven’t been hitting on dudes before, we’re technically the best at it!” Bouto still haven’t let go of Kuroo’s hand yet, and was now dragging him away towards the table that would probably destroy his future… Suga and Daichi were watching them as they left and Kuroo could barely hear them say; ”good luck, you’ll need it”, before they were out of hearing distance. 

But Bokuto was right. Like, he didn’t normally have any problem at all talking to people and get someone to stay the night. Kuroo was pretty hot, he had confidence and was really smooth. So why didn’t he feel like it now? So why was this such a big deal for him? So why was he afraid that Kenma would ignore his feelings?

It took a moment for Kuroo to realise that they’d arrived to Kenma and Akaashi’s table, and they were both observing the intruders with absolutely no expression at all. But the worst thing was that Kenma was even prettier up close, with a red DS resting in his small hands and Akaashi was extremely gorgeous as well. He had no idea about how Bokuto could be so calm as he began to lean over their table and stared Akaashi in the eyes, because Kuroo really, really felt like running away.

“Hey hey hey! I’m sorry, but you owe me a drink!”

Kenma raised an eyebrow at this, and Kuroo tried to (but on the same time tried to not) catch Kenma’s attention. But it seemed like it failed, because Kenma was once again returning to passionately pressing buttons on his game. Akaashi’s facial expression was still completely empty though, and it maintained that way as he answered.

“Why do I owe you a drink?”

Bokuto smirked. “Because when I looked at you, I dropped mine.”

“No you didn’t, you still have it in your hand.”

It was like if all the air had disappeared in the cafe. Kenma paused his game to look up. Bokuto looked like he might begin to cry, and he could swear that even Suga and Daichi had gone quiet. Damn, he hadn’t expected Akaashi to be this cruel. Of course, Kuroo had predicted that something like this might happen, but it still hurt a lot to see his best friend like that. Akaashi had technically just slayed Bokuto on the spot, and he knew that it would take loads of ice cream to make Bokuto feel okay again. 

“Bo, we should maybe return back…” Bokuto nodded at this suggestion, but before they had time to turn around and tell Suga and Daichi about the dramatic event, Akaashi’s voice cut them off.

“Please wait.”

They waited, Bokuto still looking like he might cry and Kuroo feeling like shit. Maybe even worse than shit. He was tired as fuck, his best friend’s feeling had just been smashed into pieces, he didn’t have the courage to talk to Kenma, and now Akaashi seemed like he wanted to make the situation worse?

But it didn’t take long for Kuroo to realise that those wasn’t Akaashi’s intention. Because he was now blushing and tugging on his sleeves. 

“Oh. I get it now.”

Kuroo began to laugh. It seemed like if Akaashi wasn’t an asshole after all, he was just really dense. Maybe they were soulmates after all? Bokuto seemed to have got it as well, because he had now seated himself at their table, and was now lively discussing everything from their english class to different facts about owls with Akaashi. 

And with that, Bokuto and Akaashi was in a relationship.

Well, it wasn’t like that one pick up line (that hadn’t even been that good) automatically made them a couple, but it was thanks to that, that they somehow realised that they belonged together. Well, life sure is strange. Kuroo turned around to look at Daichi and Suga, who looked almost as surprised as Bokuto had done a little while ago.

Kenma did not seem surprised though, and was just continuing with his game, not even bothering to look at the newly enamored couple. The couple didn’t bother to look at anything except of each other in defence, and Kuroo felt like he’d suddenly become invisible, which he was not used to. It felt… strange.

It probably be the best if he’d, you know… talked to Kenma. Just to make sure that he wasn’t actually invisible. Yeah, that sort of made sense.  
“Soo, when will the wedding will be then?” 

Kuroo lazily rested his arms over the edge of Kenmas chair, peeking over his shoulder to watch as he played. Ok, great start, he’d managed to say something that actually was a bit funny, and even without stuttering! Kuroo took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the stupid butterflies in his stomach. He could do this.

“Well, Akashi has always wanted a winter wedding i suppose.” Kenma didn’t even bother to look at Kuroo, and just continued battling the charizard.

“Hmm… that’d actually be beautiful! But maybe a little too cold for me, especially since I’d be the bridesmaid. I’d make a great bridesmaid, don’t you think?”

“Don’t know.”

“I still think that I’d be a great bridesmaid!” Kenma didn’t bother to answer that, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Except that it wasn’t really silent around them, they were still in a cafè, and Bokuto and Akaashi sat next to them, catching up on a lifetime's experiences. 

The strange thing with Kenma was that he somehow made Kuroo extremely calm when he was with him, but yet, Kenma made him anything but calm. He was constantly scared of accidentally saying something offensive, or making him uncomfortable (sadly, Kuroo was an expert at making people uncomfortable), and he was scared Kenma wouldn’t want to spend time with him anymore.

If Kenma had ever wanted to spend time with him to start with.

“No, you’re overthinking stuff again. Please stop and act like a normal person.”

Kuroo tried to follow his thoughts the best he could.

“Wait, are you playing Pokémon? I used to love that game! Which one is it, I’ve only played that black and white one before!” Kuroo could almost see Kenma smiling at this, before he raised his arms a little bit so that Kuroo could see the screen better.

“Oh, it’s Omega Ruby, I’ve recently bought it, and I’m really fond of it so far! But my favorite is probably Pokémon Platinum, even though it was a bit similar to the other games so did I really find it… oh, sorry.” Kenma blushes a bit when he discovers that he’s been rambling, and lowers his head a bit closer to the game.

But Kuroo doesn’t mind at all, he’s actually happy. That was the longest sentence Kenma has said so far, and it’s nothing to apologize for.

“No, don’t apologize, what were you saying about the Platinum one?”

Kenma blushes even more, but he looks relieved. It doesn’t take long until he’s once again discussing the pros and cons with the game with a quite low, but still enthusiastic voice. But Kuroo has to admit, he’s not really listening as much as he probably should have. He’s more focused at looking at Kenma, with an almost proud smile playing on his lips. But Kuroo just can’t help it, Kenma’s just way too beautiful not to.

He’d like to spend so much more time like this, just watching Kenma play his games, talking about nothing in particular and just feel calm. Kuroo just really likes it like this, and he doesn’t want to leave.

That scares him a lot.

He didn’t really notice when Kenma stopped talking, but he is now once again watching the game (or rather Kenma) is silence. But how much he’d wanted it to, it can’t stay like that forever.

It’s Suga that makes him realize that.

“Hello lovebirds! I’m sorry to bother you, but we should get going now. We were supposed to pick up Oikawa from the library, remember? “

Bokuto groans.

“Why can’t Oikawa walk home himself?”

Suga smiles a patient smile. “Because we promised him.”

Bokuto groans one more time.

“Yes mom, we’ll come, please, just chill a bit!” Suga doesn’t even bother to tell Bokuto that he is not actually their mom. He’d tried to do that for a very long time now, but after he released that they’d probably never stop with that, Suga gave up.

“Oh, and you’re Akaashi right? We went to orchester together when we were younger, do you remember?” Suga reaches out an arm towards Akaashi, which politely shakes it as response.

“Yeah I think so. Wasn’t it you that played the piano?”

“That’s right! And you must be Kenma!” Suga reaches his hand towards Kenma as well, but Kenma had been so concentrated in his game so he doesn’t actually notice.

“Suga, are we going to pick up Oikawa or not, let’s go.”

 

__

 

Bokuto is still smiling as they walk towards the library, happily sipping on what’s left of his frappuccino. Bokuto’s other arm, that isn’t busy holding the drink, is steadying Kuroo the best it can, so that he won’t accidentally fall asleep as he walks. Kuroo doesn’t know why, but spending time with Kenma made him even more exhausted, even though the only thing they’d done was to play on his DS. And the possibility of him falling immediately doesn’t seem that far away.

But still, Kuroo wishes that he’d be able to spend even more time with Kenma. And Bokuto, bless his beautiful soul, and his new relationship actually makes that possible.

“Oh, Kuroo? We should go on a double date sometime, don’t you think?”

Unfortunately Kuroo doesn’t hear that, because he has somehow managed to fall asleep, thinking about the beautiful blanket-boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is actually going to have a plot please belive me!
> 
> fun fact: i named this chapter the fall, because kuroo is spending more than the half of this chapter on the floor lmao


	4. The love advisor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo don't know what he's going to do with his feelings for Kenma, so he asks his best friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oK i'm so sorry for not updating in such a long time, but I've been quitee busy the last weeks.. for an example, I've had a big cheerleading competition, broken a bone in my finger(which may have been connected to the cheerleading heh), and probably failed an exam. And on top of that, my beta went on a vacation!
> 
> but anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for all the lovely comments i've gotten so far!  
> (also i've still not figured out how to get the text to stay in cursive or bold type, so some things in this chapter might look a bit weird, sorryyy)

A few days had passed since Kuroo met Kenma at the café, and his life had somehow started to form a routine. He realized that his lessons weren’t that hard when you’d actually slept the night earlier, and he actually enjoyed them! Well, that was until they were given tons of homework that he always somehow managed to forget about until before they were supposed to be handed in.

Kuroo spend most of his free time with Bokuto, but the time he spent with his best friend had gotten less every day. Bokuto had now a boyfriend (which he usually reminded Kuroo at least seven times each day), and it made him realize that Bokuto actually couldn’t spend every single moment of his life with him.

Bokuto had lately begun to check his phone more constantly, always grinning like the lovestruck idiot he was every time he’d gotten a text from his loverboy, and had also begun to go on dates more frequently, leaving Kuroo behind , forced to watch their bad chic flics alone.  
Bokuto would always return home late, and if Kuroo was still awake, talk to him about how great their date had been, how gorgeous Akaashi was and how much he liked him.

It made him a bit jealous.

But don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t jealous at Akaashi. Kuroo loved Bokuto loads, but not in that way. He wasn’t either mad that Bokuto for letting him spend more time alone. No, sometimes, he was rather happy about it! It was sort of nice having some alone time from time to time.

But there was still something missing.

Kuroo just can’t help imagining how nice it’d be to have someone whose head would rest on his shoulder as he watched his reality shows, and someone listening to the stories you wanted to tell not just prata I mun på varandra), and someone he could spend time with by doing nothing, and having a someone that beautiful, that he’d never be bored of watching their face.

No, Kuroo wasn’t jealous at Akaashi for spending more and more time with Bokuto. He was jealous of Bokuto, for finding his someone.

But when he thought about it, he realized that he’d probably already found his someone. He just didn’t know how to talk to him.

And that made Kuroo frustrated. Like, he’d never had trouble speaking to people before, why would this be any different? But the thought of Kenma being his someone made him confused and all tingly inside, and he didn’t know why. Kuroo didn’t actually know Kenma and had only met him twice (if you don’t count the time he’d seen him briefly, when heading to classes etc).

It first now occurred to him that he hadn’t seen Kenma in the dormitory either, except from the first night. He never spent time with the others in the common room, and didn’t seem to use the kitchen. Had he maybe changed dorm? Or what if he’d changed school?

“Dude, what are you thinking about? It looks like your brain is going to pop out?” Bokuto’s voice made him return to reality and the episode of the cooking program that they were watching, which he hadn’t been paying the slightest attention to.

“Oh. Just thinking about...stuff”

Bokuto raised one eyebrow. “Well, I’ve probably never seen you so caught up thinking about stuff before. What stuff are you thinking about?”

Kuroo took a deep breath and brought his hand towards his chest in an excessive motion as he closed his eyes.

“Love.”

“Bro, that’s beautiful.”

“I know bro.”

They returned to the show, in which the chef was so passionately mixing the salad he’d made that it almost looked pornographic. Why they were watching this show was a mystery to both of them, because neither of them actually liked (or knew how) to cook. But Bokuto had somehow suggested that they’d “totally watch a cooking show because yes”, and now they sat on the old sofa in the common room, watching the little too enthusiastic chef.

Bokuto cleared his throat

“Sooo… why are you thinking about… love?” It took a little while for Bokuto to process the information, and it was almost funny to see how his eyes widened more and more as he started to connect the pieces.

“Wait?!! It’s about Akaashi’s friend, isn’t it?” You should have told me before! I’m like… the best love advisor ever, just talk to me about it, hey?!”

A week ago Kuroo would never trust Bokuto’s love-advice, because love had never really been Bokuto’s strong side. But who knew, he’d somehow ended up with an actual goodness named Akaashi, so maybe Bokuto actually had some good advice?

Kuroo laid down on the sofa, with his head resting on Bokuto’s lap and hands covering his face in frustration and embarrassment.

“Ughh, I just don’t know what to do Bo! I think that I really kind of like him, but I’ve only met him twice and I don’t know what to do!”  
“Well…” Bokuto said in the most professional voice he could. “If you think you like him, just spend some more time with him and you’ll probably find out if you like him or not!”

“But what if he doesn’t want to spend time with me? It wouldn’t surprise me if he hates me beca…”

“Dude, why would he hate you?” Bokuto adds before Kuroo has the chance to finish his sentence. “You’re the best, you are just overthinking stuff! Come on, why wouldn’t he like you? You’re cool, smart, funny and really hot. So yeah, just go for it!”

Kuroo grinned. Bokuto was great at boosting people's self-confidence, and that’s something Kuroo really appreciated about his best friend.

“Oh Bo, that’s so sweet of you, pumpkin pie!”

“Just telling the truth, hubby wubby”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have, Boo bear”

A distinct “tch” makes them turn around, only to reveal that they are no longer alone in the common room. It’s Tsukishima, who has the dorm next to Bokuto and Kuroo. Tsukishima might be younger than the two boys, but still somehow acts more mature. Well, if you can call being a grumpy teenager mature...

“Are you even aware of how gay you guys are?”

“Oh, Tsukki, we’re pretty damn aware of that!”

“Anyway, sugar honey,” Bokuto continues as Tsukishima returns to his room, with another, even louder “tch” to remark his disapproval. “Now when we’ve concluded that he doesn’t hate you, are you going to meet him again soon? Because no offense, but you really should!”

“But it’d be really weird if I just asked him if he wanted to hang out or eat dinner! I don’t even know him that good, and people don’t usually do that!” Kuroo sank a little deeper into the sofa. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

“Kuroo, my dear friend. People do that all the time. You used to do that all the time. It’s called dating. Are you an alien or what, ‘cause what happened to the arrogant self-confident Kuroo that I used to know?”

“He’s gone. Don’t know where, probably on vacation somewhere. But if you see him, please tell the other Kuroo that I miss him.” Bokuto did have a point though. He usually never had any problem with this kind of stuff, so why was it so difficult now? Yeah, Kenma was cute, beautiful, and interesting. But it wasn’t like he never met another cute or interesting person before! So what was it with Kenma that made him all gooshy inside?

“Okay, I’ll do that. But for now, I’m going to ask the fake Kuroo to put his shit together! Come on dude, just ask him out the next time you see him!”

“You make it sound so easy when you say it!”

“That’s because it’s easy! Well, sometimes at least… but I managed pretty damn well with Akaashi, didn’t I?” Bokuto smiles a bit when he thinks about his (somehow) successful move with Akaashi, but his mind somehow gets on another track, because suddenly, Bokuto winces so sharply that Kuroo almost falls down from his lap  
“I just got the Best. Idea. Ever. Why don’t we go on a double date? You, me, Akaashi and Kenma! I think I’ve suggested that before, right? But that’d be truly amazing! I know this great place, their donburi is probably the best donburi in the whole world!”

“No, I don’t know… it sounds nice, but I don’t know bro, but I’d rather get to know him a little bit more first, if you get what I mean!” Kuroo said, but that wasn't the only reason. He also had that feeling that if they went on a double date, Bokuto and Akaashi might act so lovey dovey so it’d just be awkward for him and Kenma. He also had that feeling that Kenma didn’t feel that comfortable with bigger groups of people, like in the café where it’d lowkey looked like he’d rather not be there. And what if Kenma would say no?

Urghh, he's probably just overthinking stuff again.

Bokuto didn’t let the rejection bring him down, and he was still smiling as he answered.

“Oh, okay! But we really should have one later on, I’m not giving up on my masterplan! But anyway. If we’re not going to have a double date, how are you going to get him to spend time with you?”

“I don’t know, and it’s making me really frustrated! These things are usually easy peasy, but not this time!” Kuroo turns his head around, only to notice that the bad cooking show has now ended and have now been replaced with a documentary about the almost extinct leatherback turtle.

“Just go for it! You’re quite charismatic, I’m sure it’ll work out fine! If you’d want to, I could just ask Akaashi for his number, I’m positive that he’ll give it to you!”

Well, getting his number didn’t sound half bad… it sounded much easier to just text instead of talking, and it’d be a great way to get to know him better! Since when did Bokuto get this good at advising?

“Dude, that’d be great!”

“I told you that I was the best love advisor ever! I’ll ask Akaashi now, it might take a little time before he answers though, because he’s on his violin lesson now!”

Kuroo tries to ignore the fact that Bokuto has memorised his boyfriend's schedule (which might be cute, but also like really scary), and tries his best to observe as Bokuto slowly starts texting Akaashi, using more emojis than necessary.

But when Bokuto has almost finished the text, he deletes it. Kuroo can’t help but to wonder why, and raises an eyebrow as a question.

It seems like Bokuto understood the sign, because it doesn’t takes long before he answers Kuroo’s wordless question.

“I actually got a much better idea. Like waayy better!”

“Huh, what idea could possibly be better than this one?”

“I just thought that you might as well ask him yourself!” Bokuto said, as he nods towards the other side of the common room.

Kuroo can feel how his heart stops, as he quickly removes himself from Bokutos lap, to lean over the sofa to get a clear view of the rest of the common room.

And there, just as a deer caught in headlights stands Kenma, with his hair in yet another messy bun and an oversized sweatshirt. And when both Kuroo and Bokuto are staring at him, it makes it seem like he’s going to faint.

“Ehm… do you want something or?” Kenma slowly says, to break the awkward silence.

Kuroo can’t help but to feel relived over that Kenma hadn’t actually changed school, but when Bokuto shoves him at his shoulder, Kuroo realises that this had somehow turned into another awkward situation…

“Oh, hi Kenma! I was just wondering if I could get your number, because like we’re basically neighbors and neighbors usually have each other's numbers, so that I could just call if I got locked out or yeah stuff like that… so do you think I could get your number, because...yeah.”

Kuroo wants to disappear. Why did he always have to make situations worse than they already were? He tries to look at Bokuto for moral support, but Bokuto somehow thought that pretending to watch the stupid turtle-documentary to avoid this event would be the best idea. Kuroo did not agree.

“Okay, I guess… do you want me to write it down or can I just say it?”

Kuroo felt quite relieved when Kenma offered to give him his number, even with his shitty proposition. But when he thought about it, Kenma hadn’t had much of a choice, since he was pretty much backed into a corner right now…

“You can just say it I suppose, then I’ll write it down!” Kuroo quickly unlocked his phone, or rather just opened it since he never really bothered to get a code, and started to carefully write down the digits Kenma cautiously said under the contactname called “blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ”.

“Okaay, I’m done! Thanks a lot!”

“No problem” Kenma shrugged, before he began to continue his walk towards his dorm, nervously tugging the sleeves of the huge sweatshirt. But he didn’t get very far before Kuroo once again stole his attention, and made him turn around again.

“Uhm, Kenma!”

“Yeah?”

“Your hair looks really pretty when you wear it in a bun!”

It was hard to tell who blushed the most, Kuroo or Kenma. Bokuto had given up pretending to watch the documentary and let his gaze wander between the two boys, even him considering which one that was the most embarrassed.

Somehow, Kenma managed to say a small “thanks”, before he quickly escaped the situation.  
Kuroo watched lovestruck as the small boy disappeared into his dorm, with his mouth half open in awe.

“Hey bro, nice job! I knew you could do it!”

Kuroo stopped looking at Kenma’s door and returned his full attention Bokuto and the turtles, still smiling like an idiot. Bokuto couldn’t resist “friendly” hitting Kuroo hard in the shoulder with his fist as an “I’m proud of you” gesture, and even though it hurt, it still made him even happier.

Yeah, he might have fucked up a little bit. But still, he’d managed to get Kenmas number, right?

“Thanks Bo! Oh, there’s another cooking show coming up now, wanna watch?”

 

___

From: Kuroo Tetsurou  
To:blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ(Kenma)  
____

hi! i’m not locked out yet if u wondered lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm aware that i've probably repeated myself loads of times in this chapter, but i'm to lazy to fix it:/  
> as you may have noticed, i'm only a novice at writing, so i'd really appriciate if you'd write any critics on how i can approve my writing in the comments!
> 
> thanks for reading:)


	5. The keykeeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao i love that i said that i was sorry that i updated late the previous chapter, and this time i updated even later..:/ i also guess that i don't actually have an excuse this time... but thanks so muuch for all the sweet coments and kudos! they've really kept me motivated to continue with this story! so, i hope you enjoy this(extremly delayed)chapter!
> 
> (and once again, i know that the texting part looks hella weird, but i don't know how to fix it?? sorry!)

From: Kuroo Tetsurou  
To: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ

kenma

 

From: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ  
To: Kuroo Tetsurou

Huh, what?

From: Kuroo Tetsurou  
To: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ

 

guess what just happened?

 

From: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ  
To: Kuroo Tetsurou

I don’t know.

Wait, did you finally buy that novel you told me about last week?

 

From: Kuroo Tetsurou  
To: Blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ

good guess, but no. I still really want to read the book, but I’m a poor student with no money for such luxuries.

try again!

From: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ  
To: Kuroo Tetsurou

Did you accidentally set the kitchen on fire? 

It wouldn’t surprise me if you did. 

From: Kuroo Tetsurou  
To: Blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ

kenma!!! how could you ever think I’d do something like that? my cooking skills are superb! 

From: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ  
To: Kuroo Tetsurou

Sure.

Then i have absolutely no idea.

From: blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ  
To: Kuroo Tetsurou

No, wait.. don’t tell me that you got yourself locked out

From: Kuroo Tetsurou  
To: Blanket boy(ノ・ω・)ノ

i got myself locked out.

 

____

 

It took a while for Kenma to appear on the other side of the glass-door, and Kuroo had actually started to doubt if Kenma would have the energy to go all the way down only to unlock the door, and with that free Kuroo from this freezing hell. Kuroo really had to write a mental note to himself about how he should be better at remembering to grab his keys before he left his dorm. Like seriously, this is the third time this month he managed to get locked out.

The door opened with a “click”, and Kuroo smiled towards the small boy.  
Kenma didn’t return his smile. He just glared at him, waiting for Kuroo to enter so that he’d be able to close the door and once again return to his comfortable and warm room.

Sure enough, the moment Kuroo stepped over the threshold, the door swung close with a loud noise, almost hitting him on the way.

The warm air felt marvelous after the cold, and still, it was only October, and October weren’t even supposed to be that cold… So Kuroo forgave Kenma for his almost collision with the door, and thanked him instead; “Ahh, Kenma! My knight in shining armor, my true savior, my…”

“You know, at first I thought you were joking about the getting locked out thing. Like how do you even manage to get locked out from your own dormitory?” Kenma cut off, still looking grumpy (and also slightly tired)

“Well, not to brag or anything but I’m the master of being locked out! One time I even got locked out from my own house, because I had forgotten that I had the key in my jacket pocket!” Kuroo said as they started to make their way up the staircase.

“I’m not sure that’s something you should brag about.”

“Well, since my life basically only consists of bad life choices, there’s not that much I can brag about so I do what I can!”

Kenma sighed. “Next time that happens I won’t help you out!”

“No, you don’t mean that. I think we both know that Kenma the knight would never let a poor college student freeze to death!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.” Kenma slowly said. The had now reached their final destination (aka the common room), and Kuroo couldn’t help feeling a bit sad over the fact that they soon had to go separate ways. But just as he was about to say his goodbye, Kenma continued his speech. “And honestly, I doubt that you can become a knight just by opening doors.”

Kuroo smiled. “Well, I guess that I just have to call you Kenma the key-keeper instead.”

Even though Kenma tried to conceal it so couldn’t Kuroo help but notice how a tiny smile was playing on his lips as well, and Kuroo’s heart stopped for a moment, like it always did the few times he’d made Kenma smile. How was he even allowed to look so cute? It should be illegal.

Kenma’s smile had disappeared as quickly as it’d appeared. “Well, bye then.” Kenma said after a while, and started to make his way down the corridor.

“Good night, Kenma the Key-keeper! See you tomorrow!” Even though Kenma was facing the other way so was Kuroo almost sure that he was smiling. Well, at least a little. 

Kuroo decided to follow Kenma’s example, and returned to his room as well. Even though it was only ten o’clock so were Bokuto fast asleep when Kuroo entered, and he once again couldn’t help but to feel a little bit jealous of his ability to fall asleep easily (and stay asleep as well!” Kuroo knew that it would take hours until he’d be able to get some sleep, because his head was filled of things he needed to think about. And since maybe half of them were about Kenma, Kuroo decided that he probably should deal with those first.

It had never hit Kuroo before how much easier it was to communicate through texting! And it seemed like Kenma thought so as well, because since Bokuto had managed to get him Kenma’s phone number, they had texted each other almost every day. 

He really owed Bokuto, didn’t he? 

It was really easy, talking with Kenma, and even though their hobbies were a little different from each others so did they never fail to keep a conversation flowing, and they never needed to force it. After a week or so had Kenma started to talk a little more in real life as well, and even though their conversations were still full of silences so were they not even once awkward.

And after three two weeks, Kuroo had learned quite a lot about Kenma. Kenma never enjoyed talking about himself, but sometimes he’d mention some personal when they talked. For an example, Kuroo learned pretty quickly that Kenma didn’t have any siblings, and weren’t that close to his parents, but it seemed like he didn’t care that much about it. 

Another thing he learned that Kenma loved to play games, and not just pokémon. But he didn’t just play games, he used to play the violin as well, and that’s where he met Akaashi, who where one of his closest friend, if not his closest. Kenma never played in the orchestra though, he wasn’t comfortable in larger groups of people.

Kenma also had great fashion sense, and Kenma had told him that Akaashi had supported him to wear the clothes he wanted to wear, like skirts and overalls. But he still didn’t feel that comfortable wearing clothes that were supposed to be more feminine. Kuroo had once offered that he’d start wearing skirts as well so that Kenma wouldn’t feel alone, but Kenma had somehow denied, mumbling something about that he preferred his usual style, and petite dresses maybe weren’t for him.

Kenma could say what he wanted, Kuroo still thought that he’d rock a dress.

The only actual disadvantage with their new friendship was that Kuroos feelings for Kenma became even more clear the more time they spent together, and Kuroo doubted that he’d be able to deny them that much longer. And since they now were friends, confessing was going to be even harder.

Kuroo should have asked him on a date when one of the first times they’d met. Like, if he’d get denied, it wouldn’t have mattered that much (who is he trying to fool, it would have mattered quite a lot for his poor little heart). Anyway, now when they were friends, a denied confession could possibly lead to an end to their friendship, and Kuroo weren’t ready to risk that.

He signed. Life most certainly weren’t easy at the moment.  
Maybe he should just wake up Bokuto? It’s not like he’d be able to fall asleep in quite a while with all this anxiety anyway. It might be the best solution to hear what his best friend had to say about this subject? But then, he doubted that he’d even be able to wake Bo up. Not even the biggest earthquake could wake this sleeping beauty. 

Well, Kuroo supposed that he’d have to seattle for the second best. He reached for his phone, and with a slight hesitation, he pressed the call button next to the contact name “mom number 2” 

It took a while for “mom number 2” to pick up, and when he did, it was with a very sleepy voice.

“Do you even know what time it is, what normal human calls at one o’clock a monday morning?” 

“Oh, is it that much, I thought it was around eleven-ish or something?”

Suga laughed a little, but it sounded more like a laugh out of anger, and muttered something that sounded like“goddamn these insomniac people” under his breath, before he continued, with a forced cheerfulness; ”Soo, why are you calling this time a night? It better be important, since we got an English test tomorrow in case you’ve forgotten...!”

“Well, you know that time at the café a few weeks ago when we talked about my hypothetical crush…”

Suga suddenly became clear awake, and quickly added a “yes” before Kuroo continued.

“Well, what if you like, were right? And I somehow managed to befriend him and now I’m to scared to confess and I don’t know what I’ll do and fuck it I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“It’s Kenma isn’t it? Oh, I knew it the first time I saw him!”

Kuroo could feel his heart skip a beat. It had probably been a mistake telling Suga this after all, he’d somehow forgotten about how obsessed Suga was about this kind of stuff. And even more annoying, he was often right about it as well.

“Why do you think that?” Kuroo says with an awkward(and not that convincing) laugh

“Don’t you try to fool me! It’s actually really obvious considering how you look at him like he’s the love of your life!” Well, Suga wasn’t completely wrong there...

“Um… yeah, the point is that I kind of like him? And now we’re sort of friends and I’m honestly really scared that I’ll somehow mess things up if I confess and he won’t like ever talk to me again…”

 

“Kuroo, that’s not going to happen! I don’t know Kenma that well, but he really doesn’t seem like that kind of guy that would cut of a friendship just like that! And it seems like Kenma really likes you as well, he barely spends time with anyone else of what I’ve seen, except Akaashi, and that short, overly excited ginger kind… Hinata I think he’s called? Oh, and that tall Russian guy as well, and…”

“I get your point!” Kuroo quickly added, almost screaming. ”But what I mean is that what if he doesn’t like me like that?”

“Well, you won’t know until you ask him! Even though I’m sure he likes you as well, like “like-like!” Just don’t overthink stuff, and for god’s sake, please try to sleep now!”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks a lot Suga, you’re my hero!”

“No problem, no problem! And don’t hesitate to call me when there’s an update to the story! Good night!”

And with that, Suga hung up and Kuroo was once again left alone with his thoughts. Talking to Suga had been soothing though, and he actually felt a little bit calmer now. Maybe calling Suga at one o’clock should become a new habit?

Without all the thoughts, Kuroo noticed how he (finally) started to drift into sleep. Maybe he could actually fall asleep early for once in awhile? Well, if half past two would be considered early.

…

 

But then the crying sounds appeared again.


	6. The blanket boy returns

It was much easier to locate the crying this time, because now he was sure about where it came from and who caused it. And sure enough, when Kuroo opened the wooden door he found Kenma in the exact same spot as he had been the last time and with the same blanket firmly wrapped around him.

Kuroo could see how Kenma almost froze when he noticed that he were no longer alone in his room, but when their eyes met and the realization who the intruder was hit him, Kenma slowly nodded and Kuroo took that as a sign to make his way over to the bed.

They sat like that for a while, Kenma sobbing and Kuroo trying to do his best to silently comfort him. After a while, the sobbing slowly died out and Kuroo tried to choose his words carefully, just as he had done the last time.

“So, do you want to talk about it or do you want me to tell you about the time I accidentally took the wrong train and ended up in a forest in the middle of nowhere?”

Kuroo could feel the panic starting to show when Kenma didn’t answer the question. Had he just said something wrong? Well, if he knew himself right, that was quite likely. Unfortunately, that did not in fact make him any less panicky, so he quickly added a third option.

“Or we could just stay like this if you’d prefer that?”

Kenma’s silence lasted just a little bit longer, until he answered with a shaken voice; ”No, I think I’m ready to talk about it, for real this time. If that’s okay with you.” The last sentence was so weak that it could barely be heard, and Kuroo weren’t sure if he’d interpreted it correctly, but he answered it anyway.

“No, it’s totally fine with me! Like whatever’s cool for you is cool for me to!”

Kenma took a deep breath and lowered the blanket so it no longer covered his face. “Oh, that’s nice… I guess”

Their silence was no longer comfortable. It was very tense and quite nervous, not that relaxing at all to be honest. And when Kenma didn’t say anything else for at least five minutes, Kuroo actually started to think that it might be for the best if he just left Kenma alone and return to his own dorm (no matter how much he resisted the idea) But then, Kenma took another deep breath as if he mentally prepared himself for the next step.

“I don’t really know how to begin this, I don’t usually talk about these kinds of things...” Kenma started to nervously tug on his blanket, and Kuroo decided to take the moment to grab Kenma’s hand, as if to say that it was okay. Kuroo felt his heart skip a beat when Kenma grabbed his hand back.

“What I was trying to say is that I don’t feel very well. It’s not as if I’m sick or anything…” Kenma took a tighter grip onto Kuroo’s hand before he finished his sentence. “It’s just that I don’t feel mentally okay. At all.”

Oh, so that was why Kenma had been crying. Strangely, even though had wondered for quite a long time why he’d cry, finding the solution was not pleasing at all.

“I-I think I’ve mentioned that I don’t like larger groups of people, right?” Kenma continued slowly.

Kuroo nodded, still holding Kenma’s hand in a steady grip. Something told him that Kenma really needed that at the moment. “Yeah, I think you’ve mentioned it once or twice.”

“Well… it’s a bit worse than that. It feels like everybody is judging me wherever I go. Well, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were because the way I look and act, but it still hurts. I mean, I should have gotten used to it by now, but I just haven’t.” Kenma started talking faster and faster, as if he’d gone through this speech multiply times in his head and just couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“And I don’t really mind that they think the way they think, but it’s just that every time the laugh at me or talk behind my back, I start to believe in what they’re saying. And I know that it’s foolish and that I shouldn’t care and that’s all in my head but I just can’t help it and…”

It looked as if Kenma was about to break any time now, his eyes tearful and his hands red from the pressing of fingernails against his skin.

“Kenma.” Kuroo said, trying to remain calm. “Please breath, it is okay.”

Kenma took a few deep breaths before he continued, this time slower.

“And that’s not even the beginning. I’m just feeling tired all of the time, and the things I used to love just aren’t that fun anymore. That’s why I stopped playing the violin you know, one day it was fine and the next day it wasn’t. I don’t really enjoy playing games that much anymore, sometimes I just do that to pass time. Sometimes I don’t even feel as if I don’t deserve to be alive.” This time, Kenma couldn’t manage to hold the tears in, and they all came down at once, like the rain finally pouring down after a day filled of big, grey clouds.

Kuroo felt like shit. He’d never imagined that Kenma went through something like this. And after all these times he’d just feel sorry for his own stupid ass for being in love. And the worst part was that there was nothing for him to do to fix the situation.

Well, he could at least try.

“Is it okay if I hug you right now?” It wasn’t anything big, but if it’d make Kenma to feel even the slightest bit better, it’d be worth it.

Kenma nodded, and Kuroo wrapped his arms around the small boy, who were now (not that quietly) sobbing against Kuroo’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a bit, and little by little, the crying died out.

“I’m… I’m sorry that I told you all of this, I didn’t mean to…” Kenma shakily raised an arm to wipe away the tears running from his face. “I-I’ve just been keeping it for myself for such a long time, and I just couldn’t stop when I’d started. You probably don’t even care. Why would you?” He let out a quiet laugh of nervousness.

Kuroo just replied by hugging Kenma tighter, his heart dropping a bit. How could Kenma even think something that stupid?

“Of course I care about you! You’re such an amazing person to be around, you’re an amazing listener and you never make anyone feel bad about them! You have an awesome fashion style, no matter what other people might say, and if they say otherwise, then fuck them! And you’re also very cute when you get super excited for small things, like Pokémon, and you’re also really cute in general” Oh, Kuroo just realized what he’d said. Well, he did mean it, but that didn’t stop him from feeling less embarrassing. “Well…yeah, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Kenma let out his nervous laugh once again, shaking his head as if he didn’t want to accept all this new information.

“I think that I’m just good at listening because I don’t have anything else to say, I’m really boring actually. And rude, I almost crushed you with a door earlier today if you’d forgotten. And people only think I’m cute because I’m short. I’m actually not even that short, it’s anyone else that’s too tall.”

It felt like an eternity since that door accident had taken place. Life had seemed so much easier back then. But even if what Kenma had told him hurt, Kuroo wouldn’t for anything in the world go back to when he didn’t know. The weight that Kenma was carrying was too heavy for anyone to possibly carry alone.

“I’ve only known you for a couple of months, but that’s more than enough time for me to tell you that none of those things are true. And I’ll continue to tell you that until you’ll believe that.” And Kuroo meant every single word.

It went quiet after that, Kenma went back to burying his head in Kuroo’s, now slightly damp sweatshirt, but Kuroo could almost swear that he heard Kenma murmuring a “thanks you”.

Almost fifteen minutes were spent like that, the two boys wrapped in each other’s arms and with a burden on their chests (but that didn’t feel quite as big when they were together.) But when the silence had almost rocked them to sleep, Kuroo opened his mouth once again.

“Well, I had been on a party earlier that night, and I’d like to blame it on that, but it was probably just me being stupid. Anyway, I was on my way home and when I was on the bus station, I accidentally misread the sign, so I ended up on the wrong buss. The worst part was that the buss even went the opposite direction, but I still somehow didn’t notice! Well, I did notice when we reached the final destination that clearly wasn’t my house.  
So, I found myself in a forest I’d never seen before, or had no idea what it was called! And even worse, I’d wasted all the money on my phone playing candy crush…” Kenma snorted. “Hey, it’s actually a pretty good game! Anyway, where was I… Yeah, I was in the middle of nowhere with no money on my phone, so what did I do? Well, the answer is easy, I walked! But the only problem was that I were walking the wrong direction once again, And only noticed when I arrived in a city three hours later that I’d never seen before! But luckily, it had a Starbucks so that could Snapchat Bo so that he would be able to pick me up!” Kuroo laughed a bit at the memories. But even though it was a good story to tell, the experience had not been that fun to be honest. “I’ve never seen my parents as angry as when I arrived home the next morning.” He finally finished.

Kenma snorted again as a response to the story.

“You are ridiculous, do you know that? There’s no way that actually happened.”

Kuroo smiled for the first time that night. “The sad part is that it actually happened. But do you know what the best part of it all is?”

Kenma shook his head.

“The best part is that there’s no way you’ll escape these stupid stories, because no matter how bad things might get, I’ll always be by you side. If you want to of course.”

And what happened next went so fast that Kuroo almost didn’t notice what had happened, because the next thing he knows, Kenma’s lips are on his and they are kissing. It’s a soft kiss, lips moving carefully as they try the water, and even though the kiss is a bit wet from all the tears and didn’t last nearly as long as it should have according to Kuroo, it still felt like the best kiss he’d ever had.

And when they break apart Kuroo’s heart is still beating fast and the only thought in his head is “I can’t believe that just happened” and “Did that actually just happened?”

When his gazed returned to Kenma, lips a bit redder than usual and his cheeks blushing pink, he realizes that yes, it did actually happen, and his heart races even faster than before.

But then, Kenma smiles and Kuroo quickly returns it, and just like that, all the awkward tension is gone(well, the most of it). Not soon after that, they are once again safe in each other’s arms, both laughing and crying at the same time, feeling amazed that their feeling were actually returned.

And even though Kuroo feels like kissing Kenma again, he doesn’t. Because hugging is what Kenma needs right now, and there will be so many more times to kiss that beautiful face in the future, so he’ll settle for the second best.

And Kuroo know that his love will not cure Kenma’s depression, he doesn’t expect it to. He know that it will take time for Kenma to heal these wounds, and it’s not in his power to rush it. But he’ll make his best to facilitate the process, and to make sure that Kenma never feels alone ever again.

And unlike the last time, Kuroo doesn’t return to his dorm and he spends the rest of the night with his arms around Kenma, not letting go even once. And life isn’t perfect, the depression won’t disappear, the school won’t take a break and his sleeping problems won’t go away like the way you press a light switch. But for now, they are safe in each other’s arms, and to be honest, that’s all that matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, i actually finished this one??!!  
> well, this has been my first attempt at writing a multichapter story and it has been... an experience... i think i'll stick with one shots from now on!  
> anyway, thank you all for reading and the lovely comments and kudos, it's because of you all that i didn't give up writing this! (aaargh, look at me going all sappy but i just love you guys, ok!!)
> 
> until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> some more fun facts: the kuroo thingy about being forgotten when they went to the beach was based a true story, my parents actually forgot to bring me when they went to the beach once. but i played pokemon in secret on my brothers ds so i didn't really mind being left behind! And also, i have a friend that once upon a time though that paris was located in london:/
> 
> i hope you enjoyed reading this, and if you liked it(or hated it) pleeasee comment! hopefully the next chapter will hopefully be up soon!:)  
> Also, thanks to my beta and also friend, Vi_Veri_Veniversum_Vivus_Vici! (im stupid so i don't know how to tag people please forgive me)


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